"Initial negotiations is in progress," the company said in a recent press release.

The move follows a proposal made in September 2014 by Fox Petroleum to the Government of Karnataka for the development of the FSRU LNG Terminal project at Karwar. The firm said the volume of LNG to be gasified for the project is around 7.2 million metric tons (350.7 billion cubic feet) per annum.

The development of the project in Karnataka, costing approximately $1 billion (INR 70 billion), could create up to 3,000 jobs. Fox Petroleum indicated that 90 percent of these vacancies were expected to be set aside for local youths.

The company added that the FSRU would be equipped to process 1 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of gas per day, while the onshore plant will have a storage capacity of 11.66 million cubic feet (330,000 cubic meters).

Turning to the project's financing needs, Fox Petroleum said the total cost for constructing the FSRU is estimated as $563 million, while the onshore plant is projected to cost $495 million. The firm intends to provide an update June 25 on the shortlist of EPC contractors for the FSRU LNG terminal project in Karwar.

India's energy demand has grown sharply in recent years, with the country surpassing Japan as Asia's second largest consumer in 2008, according to data released earlier this month by BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2016.

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